Maytown resident April Mooney is a civilian, but she found herself attending boot camp last month — courtesy of Oprah Winfrey.

Mooney said she wasn't at the camp to whip her body into shape, but to strengthen her mind.

"It was a camp for people with obsessive-compulsive disorder," she said Monday. "I've had it since I was a kid, and I finally decided to do something and ask for help."

Her experiences were filmed for an episode of "The Oprah Winfrey Show" that will air at 5 p.m. Wednesday on Channel 8.

OCD is an anxiety disorder characterized by an individual's obsessive, distressing thoughts and the related compulsive behaviors (or "rituals") used to neutralize the obsessions.

Mooney said as a child she suffered from hypochondria (a fear of having a serious illness), but in adulthood, her OCD took shape about 1983, when she saw a news report about over-the-counter drugs being poisoned with cyanide.

"After that scare, I just couldn't get it out of my head," she said. "I kept thinking, 'I'll be one of the unlucky ones and take an aspirin that's had cyanide slipped into it.'

"I knew it was crazy, but I couldn't stop thinking about it," Mooney said.

Consequently, she's always found herself picking at her food, looking for foreign objects.

"If I'm eating something smooth and suddenly bite on something hard, I'll get upset and spit it out," Mooney said. "I never told my children what I was doing or why I was always the last one to finish a meal, though I did tell my husband.

"I also would pack my children's lunches in a very specific way every day before school," she said. "I thought if I didn't do that, something would happen to them."

She spoke to counselors and sampled some medications to ease her symptoms, but Mooney said nothing had a lasting effect.

While researching an unrelated topic on www.oprah.com, she saw a notice that read, "Do You Have OCD?"

"I clicked on it and answered some questions, then wrote to the show," Mooney said. "I got some phone calls back, and suddenly I was asked to go to this camp near Philadelphia."

There to greet her in April was a group of adults with similar anxiety disorders and "Oprah" regulars including Dr. Mehmet Oz, professor of cardiac surgery at Columbia University and an alternative medicine expert.

"We experienced something called exposure/response therapy," Mooney said. "We'd be exposed to a situation or something we're afraid of over and over again.

"At one point, I climbed a 50-foot telephone pole," she said. "Another man there had a fear of using public bathrooms and germs. He used to be a really successful stockbroker and suddenly lost everything. Well, we were asked to put our hands inside of Dumpsters — and after a while, he was able to do it."

Mooney said the therapy is confrontational in nature, exposing the individual to a phobia repeatedly in the hope of wearing down his or her anxiety.

"It made sense," she said. "And I understood what we were doing. But at one point, I did have an anxiety attack, and they caught it on camera.

"So, anyone who watches the show will see it, which could be strange for me, though I've decided not to be ashamed of my OCD anymore."

Experts have noted that OCD sufferers often are intelligent and creative individuals and make up 40 percent of the population.

Generally, they are aware that their stressful thoughts and compulsive behaviors are erratic but they are unable to stop themselves.

"We're not crazy — the fact that we spend time worrying about being crazy proves it. We just spend too much time thinking about the past and worrying about the future," Mooney said. "You can't shut your mind off."

Although Mooney said she wasn't cured after three days at the camp, she feels the experience was important.

"I made friends at the camp who understand me, and a Philadelphia-based therapist who was there offered to find me additional counseling if I want it. They also gave us helpful books to study."

Most important, Mooney said, being on the show reminded her of what's truly important.

"You waste a lot of time worrying about things that may never happen," she said.

"Live in the here and now. That's the best advice I can give anyone."

E-mail: cdifonzo@lnpnews.com